Dorchester companies in Dorset

Standing at a cross-roads of time and place, Dorchester has much to offer in relaxation and rural charm.
With its bright and bustling shopping precincts, elegant 18th Century houses, broad walks and vital cultural life. Dorchester is still very much the Casterbridge of Hardy's novels.

History is all around Dorchester - Iron Age dwellings at Maiden Castle and Poundbury; relics of Roman occupation (amphitheatre, mosaic floored houses); vestiges of Saxon royalty, and chronicles in the Doomsday Book.

Here the broadcloth and brewing trades flourished, as did Puritanism and support for the Plymouth Brethren.Tyranny also played its loveless part. In 1685 Judge Jefferys presided over the infamous Bloody Assize which followed Monmouth's defeat at Sedgemoor. In 1834 the Tolpuddle Martyrs were deported for their part in forming a union, today in atonement, Elizabeth Frink's powerful bronze statues at Gallows Hill remembers all those who died for their faith.